Vocational rehabilitation and supported employment services for young adults with schizophrenia have not produced encouraging rates of employment. Labor force participation has been fixed at less than 25% despite rehabilitation services and passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990). Prior studies indicate that medication, psychosocial services, employment policies, family and social support, and employment history contribute to work re-entry but rates of competitive employment still remain low. Large sample studies have not fully aided understanding of the complex phenomenon of return to work; therefore this study will analyze individual themes from a small working competitively. Additional cross-sectional data of symptom and subject variables will also be analyzed Factors that explain what enables return to the workplace are not well defined. Rather than focus on prior employment as a single predictor of work re-entry, this combined qualitative and quantitative study will focus on multiple antecedents of workplace success. Understanding the domains of work (i.e. motivation for work, internal and external resources) from an individual point of view will contribute knowledge about beliefs, values, and capacity for work, contributions of rehabilitation services, and utilization of workspace supports. Qualitative inquiry, as the principal methodology of the study, is uniquely suited to answer this research question. Twenty medically stabilized young adults with a range of pre-morbid work history who are currently working competitively or seeking work will be interviewed over three 1 1/2 hour sessions. The narrative description of work obtained through semi-structured interviews will comprise a text based data bank within which rigorous analysis can occur utilized grounded theory principals which will attest to the adequacy, trustworthiness, and appropriateness of the data to the emerging theory. Important implications for the study include bridging the unique perspective of the individual with the existing knowledge of design and delivery of vocational rehabilitation services, including case management, which have not been captured by prior studies. Emergent interview themes focused on the domains of motivation, which have not even captured by prior studies. Emergent interview themes focused on the domains of motivation, pre-morbid work experience, effects of symptoms on work functioning, internal and external resources, work accommodations, quality of life, and workplace supports will contribute to understanding the heterogeneity of work outcome for this population and guide future research.